Xiaomi Mi 9 Review

Xiaomi ay sa wakas inilabas ang Mi 9, ang kahalili ng kanilang flagship na aparato noong nakaraang taon. Sinuri namin ito nang lubusan upang malaman kung karapat-dapat ba itong tumindig laban sa iba pang flagship na aparato sa kalahating presyo. Basahin pa!

Design and Construction

As a flagship device, the Xiaomi Mi 9 feels high-end and premium in the hands. It has a glass back that’s slightly curved, allowing it to rest comfortably in your palm. As it has a glass back, of course, it’s an absolute smudge magnet, and if that’s something you can’t stand, it’s recommended that you use the clear case included in the box. Xiaomi described the Mi 9’s design as holographic, however, the unit we have on hand comes in the Piano Black color, so we don’t really see that effect unless you look at it from specific angles.

The Mi 9 has a screen with slim to almost no bezels surrounding it. It’s an upgrade from last year’s Mi 8 that had a heftier chin. The device does have a teardrop notch where the front camera resides. It comes protected with Gorilla Glass 6 so individuals with slippery or clumsy fingers need not worry about accidentally breaking the screen immediately.

Located on the rear is the device’s triple-camera setup, neatly stacked together. One of the lenses on the back is accented with a holographic ring, and the effect is delightful to see when the light hits it. The cameras are slightly raised and not totally flat on the phone’s rear. Setting the Mi 9 on a flat surface will have the device wobble a little due to that.

Nasa kanang bahagi ang mga pindutang volume at power. Madaling maabot ang pareho at may clicky na pakiramdam kapag ginagamit. Sa kaliwang bahagi naman nakalagay ang dual SIM tray ng Mi 9 at may nakalaang Google Assistant button ilang puwang sa ibaba nito.

Sa itaas, may IR blaster ang Mi 9. Samantala, sa ibaba, ang mga grill ng speaker ng Mi 9 ay sinasakop ng isang speaker, mikropono, at ang USB-C port. Walang 3.5mm na audio jack para sa aparatong ito, ngunit kasama ang isang 3.5mm papuntang Type-C na adaptor sa kahon. Walang IP rating ang Mi 9, kaya mag-ingat kapag hinahawakan ang aparato malapit sa likido o anyong tubig.

Display at Multimedia

The Mi 9 has an AMOLED FHD+ screen that measures at 6.39 inches. It’s an absolute treat to watch videos and movies on the Mi 9 as the display has great contrast and the colors come out vibrant. Scrolling through social media, browsing the photo gallery, and even just swiping around the home screen is pretty much pleasing to the eyes.

May optical na fingerprint sensor sa display ang aparato. Hindi masyadong mahirap mag-enroll ng mga fingerprint at ilang sandali lang ito natapos. Napansin ko na kailangan ng matibay na pagpisil ng daliri sa scanning area para ito ay gumana nang maayos. Tungkol naman sa face unlock, ito ay mabilis, tumpak, at pare-pareho. Madalas, hindi ko na kailangang itaas pa ang Mi 9 nang diretso sa harap ng aking mukha para ito ay mag-unlock.

One downer about the Mi 9 is its audio quality. It's loud but also, the lows are missing, resulting in high, tinny sound quality if the volume is pushed up to the maximum level.

Kamera

Ang Mi 9 ay may 20MP front camera na nakalagay sa teardrop notch. Sa likod, mayroon itong triple-camera setup, kung saan isang 12MP telephoto camera, isang 48MP primary Sony IMX 586 sensor, at isang 16MP ultra-wide angle lens. Tingnan natin nang mas malalim ang mga ito.

Una ay ang 20MP selfie camera. Nagbibigay ito ng tama ang kulay, malakas, at kahanga-hangang mga selfie. Kapag pinindot ang beauty mode, ang post-processing ng Mi 9 ay nagbibigay sa mga paksa ng mas makinis na balat nang hindi ito nagmumukhang hindi natural. Mayroon din itong mga bokeh effect, at napansin naming mahusay itong nag-iisa sa paksa mula sa background.

Moving on, let's talk about the triple-rear cameras equipped on the Mi 9. The device provided us awesome daylight photos, with images capturing a lot of detail and looking sharp as well. When it comes to color, it offers excellent contrast, and it should be noted that greens and reds come out looking particularly vivid.

Ang mga low light na larawan, gayunpaman, ay ibang usapan. Ang mga imahe ay mukhang maliwanag, ngunit kapansin-pansin na nawawalan ng sigla ang mga kulay at ang kalidad ay hindi kasing ganda ng mga kuha sa araw. Kahit na ginagamit ang dedikadong Night mode, ang mga detalye sa mga imahe ay nananatiling malabo.

I'm a believer in ultra-wide angle cameras, and the Mi 9's wide-angle function produces pleasing images. There's a slight fisheye (warp) effect in the ultra-wide angle photos, but I don't think that's much of an issue considering that it can capture a vast range with its 117-degree field of view. There's also the zoom feature, with Mi 9 having a 2x optical zoom. Of course, the image quality dipped the more that we zoomed in, but we're still able to see a couple of details even with the distance.

Video-wise, the Mi 9 can shoot up to 4K at 60fps. It also has options for slow motion and timelapse. The quality is impressive, and the Mi 9 provides video stabilization as well.

OS, UI, at Mga App

MIUI 10, based on Android 9 Pie, runs as the Mi 9’s operating system. The interface is simple, clean, and easy to navigate. By default, the apps are arranged in multiple home screens. There’s no option to change it into a drawer-style arrangement though you can group your apps for a neater look overall. When it comes to navigation, users can opt for the three-button navigation or a gesture-based one.

Pre-installed apps in the Mi 9 include Mi Drop, Mi Remote, Mi Community, and MIUI Forum, along with the Google suite. The device also has a couple of features such as Cleaner, App Lock, Second Space, Security Scan, and Deep Clean.

Sa usapin ng imbakan, ang yunit na ito ay may 128GB. Mga 100GB nito ay magagamit. Walang opsyon para sa pagpapalawak ng imbakan dahil ang Mi 9 ay walang microSD slot, ngunit dapat ay sapat na iyon para sa karamihan ng mga gumagamit.

Pagganap at Mga Benchmark

Ang Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 ang nagpapatakbo sa Mi 9, kasama ang Adreno 640 GPU at 6GB ng RAM. Sa kabila ng kawalan ng mas malaking alok na RAM, mahusay ang pagganap ng Mi 9 gamit ang kung anong meron ito. Pagkatapos ng lahat, taglay nito ang isa sa mga pinakabagong mobile processor. Ang multitasking, pagpapalit-palit ng mga app habang maraming bukas sa background, at pagpapatakbo ng mga laro sa mataas na setting ay hindi problema para sa Mi 9. Naglaro kami ng PUBG Mobile dito, at ito ay tumakbo nang maayos nang walang anumang isyu. Kasalukuyan din itong nangunguna sa ranggo sa AnTuTu.

Here are its benchmarks:

AnTuTu - 368,902
Geekbench - 3,489 (Single-core), 11,038 (Multi-core)
3D Mark - 5,683 (SSE - OpenGL ES 3.1), 4,915 (SSE - Vulkan)
PC Mark - 9,725 (Work 2.0)
AndroBench - 758.61 MB/s (Sequential Read), 192.04 MB/s (Sequential Write)

Connectivity and Battery Life

The Mi 9 supports a great array of connectivity features such as 4G LTE, WiFi ac, Bluetooth 5.0, and NFC among others. As mentioned earlier, the Mi 9 has a dual-SIM capability so switching between networks won’t be a problem. We tested out its GPS efficiency and the Mi 9 performs well even in places surrounded by buildings.

Keeping the Mi 9 running is a 3,300mAh battery. Our PC Mark battery test rates it at 12 hours and 44 minutes. We also did our standard battery loop test (1080p movie, 50% brightness, 50% volume, airplane mode), and the Mi 9 gave us a total of 18 hours and 20 minutes. If you're a light user, then the Mi 9's battery life should be enough for your daily activities. In moderate, actual usage, however, we noticed that the Mi 9's battery floated around 40% by the end of the day; do bring a powerbank or your charger with you if you plan to do some heavy to moderate use with the device. The Mi 9 supports wired fast charging and it only took us 1 hour for it to reach 100%.

It's already 2019, and with flagship phones being touted as high-end, powerful devices, we feel that wireless charging should be a standard feature. It's a good thing that the Mi 9 didn't miss out on that by being armed with 20W wireless charging.

Conclusion

Overall, the Xiaomi Mi 9 is a remarkable flagship device. Physically, it may not have any novelties in its design, but the Mi 9 still gives off that elegant and premium feel. With regards to its internals, its Snapdragon 855 processor renders the Mi 9 more than capable of giving a top-caliber performance at half the price of its more expensive flagship peers from other brands. It may have some caveats -- poor audio speaker quality, no 3.5mm headphone jack, no IP rating -- but the cameras, display, and storage are also enticing enough to consider this device.

The Xiaomi Mi 9 is available in two variants and are priced as follows: